Woods is trying rebuild his reputation, severely tarnished in the wake of a sex scandal that has grabbed global headlines for months.

And Nike — the athletic-apparel retailer synonymous with Woods for his entire career — lent a corporate helping hand this week, airing its first ad featuring Woods since his transgressions came to light.

Michael Weigold, an advertising professor at the University of Florida, in Woods' state of residence, said the move seems to be all about "identity reparation" — or building back up the brand.

"Tiger Woods is gold for Nike. He is one of their most important sponsorships — he is Nike," he said. "What the ad tries to do is to bring back a Nike icon."

The 30-second spot features a sombre-looking Tiger staring straight into the camera as the voice of his deceased father plays over top, questioning what his son has "learned." Shot in black and white — with the signature Nike swoosh popping up only briefly at the end — Woods is devoid of his trademark smile.

"Tiger," says Earl Woods, who died of prostate cancer in 2006. "I am prone to be inquisitive to promote discussion. I want to find out what your thinking was. I want to find out what your feelings are."

And after a pause: "And did you learn anything."

Playing on the golfer's well-known relationship with his father — who Woods often hailed as his idol — offers an apology of sorts, Weigold added.

"They've crafted a commercial where he's listening to his father — I can say I've never seen that approach used before — (and) it kind of portrays Tiger as a naughty child who has got away from what he knows is the right thing," he said.

"Here's Tiger admitting that he didn't live up to the values that he was given by his dad, his hero. . . . He understands he screwed up, he understands he did wrong."

But critics questioned the ethics of bringing the late Earl Woods into a corporate role, with some calling it "creepy" and "offensive." (The audio clips were gleaned from a 2004 DVD collection about the golfer.)

Although the commercial doesn't overtly make reference to the golfer's infidelity, which first emerged in late November 2009, its ambiguity is likely to create buzz as people speculate about its intent, says Peter Darke, with York's Schulich School of Business.

"It's an odd sort of commercial, but it definitely gets your attention," Darke said. "It's certainly going to get a lot of attention and hype and buzz. And that's always one of the major goals of advertising.

"Even just the speculation about what's this ad about, what's the point to this ad . . . will have people talking."

And tongues were wagging; the commercial generated almost as much discussion Thursday as Woods' play — he had his best personal start at the Master's and was sitting in a five-way tie for seventh after play Thursday.

"Nike is trying to resurrect both Tiger Woods and his dad in a slightly creepy but compelling new ad," wrote Phil Brostein on the Huffington Post website. "Now we know how the sports company juggernaut plans to hang on to its golden-egg-laying goose who disruptively flashed naked tail feathers to the world."

The kickoff of the Master's tournament in Augusta, Ga., marked Woods' return to the links since he announced he would take an "indefinite break" from the PGA Tour last December to work on his marriage — which was also his first admission of infidelity.

The confession caused the multimillion-dollar athlete — who earns a sizable portion of his income from endorsements — to be dropped by a number of his sponsors, including Gatorade, Accenture and AT&T.

But Nike stuck by his side, offering these words Thursday: "We support Tiger and his family. As he returns to competitive golf, the ad addresses his time away from the game using the powerful words of his father."

Nike has a history of dealing with controversial athletes, including Charles Barkley, Michael Vick and Kobe Bryant. (The company chose to stick by Barkley, but stepped away from the others.)

The company also has a "huge investment" in Woods, said Weigold, adding that "until this year, that investment looked like a real safe bet."

Darke suggested Nike could be marking a transition toward the golfer's future — both as an individual and a brand.

"You can't really ignore what's happened and pretending it isn't happening," he said. "It could be a segue of trying to get back on track with using him as their spokesperson.

"It's pretty clear that Nike hasn't given up on Tiger."

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.